moonlight run

In the gym a few days ago, DE urged me to do the Palo Alto Moonlight 5k Run. I resisted.

"No," I said. "I hate running."

He kept pressuring me every day, but I continued to stand firm. Like this: "No."

Then he added it as an entry on my calendar, so I had to go.

We arrived an hour early. After registering, we sat down on the bleachers to wait. As we sat bored, the announcer declared that the 10k race was starting.

On impulse, we ran the 10k instead of the 5k! I ran the entire time without walking.

I was god-awful slow. By the end, there was almost no one around me, because everyone else had finished. During the last half-mile, I passed at least 500 people going the other direction. It was a sea of people exiting in waves, after having already completed the race, high-fived each other, stretched, eaten bagels, chitchatted, and finally began walking to their cars.

But who cares! I finished! 10k race with no training!

I rock. That was only opinion, before. Now it's fact.

The marshlands under the full moon were stunning. Lakes that looked as though the water froze into a still snapshot. Reedy grass swaying. Chinese music playing on my iPod.